January Frugals

[dado potato]

I made a very fresh winter smoothie of Hull-less Rye sprouted (three days into germination) blended into cold apple cider with a banana.


I suppose this smoothie could have been blended longer than 10 seconds, but I don't mind the chewy bits of rye.


The banana and apple are sources of flavonoids, and the sprouted rye is a source of vitamins B, C, and E, as well as amino acids and fiber.

I am still wassailing until January 6. This smoothie is way more economical than Glogg, Gluhwein, or egg-nog.

[Yppej]

I went to the bank and increased the amount I have automatically transferred from checking to savings each month.

[razz]

I needed an extra toilet brush for the spare bathroom that is used 4-5 times a year. I looked in several places to see prices from $22 down plus 13% tax to $1.25.

Since the bristles felt similar, I opted for the lowest priced item. None of them are very well made at all.

[Yppej]

Due to the government shutdown instead of taking a 3 day weekend I took a day trip to NYC since the state funded keeping Ellis and Liberty islands open. I spent maybe $100 total (not all the tolls have hit my EZPass account yet and gas is not a precise figure), versus what would have been $200 on lodging alone.

After sitting in traffic I have also decided I want to travel closer to home in the future. My challenge will be to make sure lower transportation costs are not gobbled up by higher lodging costs in the pricey Northeast.

[Gardnr]

I have pulled the Christmas ham bone out of the freezer. I can already smell split pea soup!

I have pulled a loaf of cranberry walnut wheat levain out of the freezer. Toast for the week.

I have 3 3/4 empty bags of veggies in the crisper. They will get oven roasted later today for dinner and lunches this week.

[danna]

Jan 04,05 and 06
--froze up any food from the holidays that did not get eaten
--did groceries, almost all specials, &/or with points and coupons, Some for stockpiling.
--Goodwill had a deal before Christmas if you bought Goodwill $'s , I bought $100.00 you
received $50.00 in money that needed to be used before the end of Jan.
Of course they don't have any 50% off in Jan but, still nice to shop without large numbers
of people with basically free money.
Brought 3 New Men's shirts brand names (for next Christmas) 7 new mugs for me, a single cup French press for me,
a New sweater & scarf as a gifts for next Christmas, 2 like new brand name blouses for me . Fun shopping
--one sale on Etsy $5.00
--Gift from Ds was Netflex's for the year (nice consumable gift) watched a fun series from Britian
"The Great Interior Design Challenge" Free entertainment.

[rosarugosa]

We are going to strive to be more accountable to our budget this year. We had some unavoidable extra expenses last year, but that seemed to get us into the "oh what the hell" mindset, and that isn't good! We came in under budget this week for groceries and the same for our monthly Costco run.

[Gardnr]

3 partial bags of veggies in the fridge. roasted them all.

4h ago I pulled 10 scallops from the freezer and covered with water to thaw. Cooked them in garlic butter 2.5" each side.

Add a slice of buttered bakery wheat levain (thawed from the freezer-a 12/24 purchase), and that's dinner!

[rosarugosa]

Yummm scallops, that is my idea of a lovely dinner!

[Yppej]

I got hammered with the flu this week. My doctor was busy and I got assigned to the nurse practitioner. He examined me, said it was viral, and my lungs were 100% clear, just take Mucinex, and if the fever comes back that means it evolved into bacterial and call for an antibiotic. The fever comes back higher than ever that evening, so I call the next day and he refuses to issue the antibiotic saying I must go for a chest x-ray first because I might have bronchitis. I refused this unnecessary expense and complained until I got my prescription. Bronchitis does not develop overnight!

I also started the process of switching to another doctor closer to home which will save me gas money and time down the road. They are a good practice I tried to get into previously, but back then they were not accepting new patients.